Russian ‘double-tap’ strike on shopping centre in Ukraine kills 16 and wounds 130

 By Reuters | Posted by TOE At least 16 people were killed and more than 130 wounded on Friday when several Russian drones ‌struck a shopping centre in central Ukraine, authorities said, with President ‌Volodymyr Zelenskiy promising a response to what he called an “act of barbarism.” Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said ​that 22 children were among the wounded in the daytime attack on the city of Kryvyi Rih, which is Zelenskiy’s hometown. “There are 29 people in serious condition, including five children,” Hanzha said. He posted a photo of black ‌smoke billowing from a large ⁠industrial building. In an update early on Saturday, Hanzha said nine people were preliminarily considered missing, including two children, and ⁠that rescuers were continuing to clear the rubble of the shopping centre. Zelenskiy called the attack “absolutely cynical and despicable”, saying that a second Russian drone hit the shopping ​centre ​half an...

Separatist candidate wins presidential vote in Bosnia’s Serb region

By Branko Filipovic and Daria Sito-sucic Reuters

A close ally of Bosnia’s Serb Republic separatist leader Milorad Dodik won a snap presidential election in a tight race with opposition candidate, the election commission said on Sunday, citing preliminary results.

“According to preliminary, unofficial and incomplete results, Sinisa Karan won 50.89% of the votes,” Jovan Kalaba, the commission’s president, said at a news conference.

Turnout was low at 35.78%, compared with 53% during a general vote in 2022, he said. More than 1.2 million people were eligible to vote. The election commission announced results based on 92.87% of counted votes.

The presidential mandate will last for less than a year since a general election is scheduled next October.

The election was called after Dodik was stripped of his office and banned from politics for six years.

Karan, who currently serves as Serb Republic minister of scientific and technological development, pledged to continue Dodik’s policies “with ever greater force.”

“As always when the times were difficult, the Serb people have won,” Karan said after Dodik had announced his victory at the headquarters of their ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party (SNSD) party in the town of Banja Luka.

The SDS said it would request the repetition of the vote at three polling stations, citing major election irregularities.

Postwar Bosnia comprises the Serb Republic and the Federation, shared by Croats and Bosniaks, linked via a weak central government.

Pro-Russian separatist Dodik was convicted in February of defying the constitutional court and an international peace envoy, leading to Bosnia’s biggest political crisis since the end of its devastating war 30 years ago.

He repeatedly rejected the verdict but in October unexpectedly appointed a loyal ally as his temporary replacement and annulled a series of separatist laws previously adopted in parliament.

Days later, the United States lifted sanctions imposed against him, his allies and family members, praising the move as a step towards the “stabilisation” of Bosnia.



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/aY1VDRt

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